The Prime Effect
by cthulu1
Summary: TF Prime Beast Hunters/Mass Effect crossover with a variety of features including Optimus Prime fighting Harbinger, and Grimlock. It'll make more sense when reading. Please read and review, the actual story's really good, unlike this summary.


A/N: This is a quick fic I thought of the other day while I was watching some Transformers Prime. In short, this is a one-shot that is a crossover between transformers prime and Mass Effect 3, particularly the ending of Mass Effect 3 just before the run to the Conduit.

Optimus Prime crashed into the face of Abraham Lincoln at Mount Rushmore. He looked up and saw Predaking flying towards him in his dragon alternate form. As it launched a single ball of fire at Optimus. He jumped out of the massive stone face, and rolled to the side, and from the corner of his eye saw the human Jack Darby moving to cover. At the same time, Megatron saw him too, and turned to fire on him. Optimus activated his jetpack, and flew between the Decepticon's fusion cannon attack. He crashed into the parking lot right by Jack, and picked him up. Activating his communicator and connecting to the Autobot base in a military hanger shortly outside of where Jasper, Nevada, had been before the Decepticon cyberformed mountain that had been dubbed Darkmount, in honor of the fortress of the former-Decepticon Dreadwing and his twin Skyquake, who had died and become one with the Allspark some time ago.

The mountain fortress had been armed with four, dreadnaught class fusion cannons capable of firing with power up to two million times that of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War I, and when the army had attempted to retaliate to the Decepticons destroying the old Autobot HQ.

Optimus said, "Ratchet, I require a ground bridge immediately."

The Autobot's medic, a slightly grumpy old bot, replied, "Destination?"

"Anywhere more than fifty miles from my current location." he replied, grabbing the young human.

"What are you guys doing here, Prime? I thought you were still working on recovering the pieces of the Forge of Solus Prime."

"We located Decepticon energon signatures here, and I came to investigate." Prime replied, flying through the just opened portal through space/time.

-=0=-

Commander Cynthia Shepard of the SSV Normandy SR2, the most advanced vessel in the galaxy, stood on the top of a hill near a severely damaged London looking at the Conduit. A device created by the reapers, ancient machines created from the essence of organic races that come to harvest organic species when they reach the point of space flight and colonization, to transport the bodies of humans up to the Citadel, a massive space station that was also a mass relay. The mass relays were devices created by the reapers to enable near-instant transport between two points in space that were incredibly far distances apart, upwards of a hundred thousand light years.

She stood on the hill, and looked to the three standing beside her. Former Cerberus, a pro-human terrorist organization, Operative Miranda Lawson, turian, an avian type of alien, Garrus Vakarian, and quarian, a human-esque dextro amino acid based species with an adaptive immune system that was severely weakened by three centuries living on sterile starships that made so they all had to wear protective environment suits, Tali'Zorah vas Normandy. Then, from behind her, Admiral David Anderson said, "We've got to move!" pointing towards the Conduit.

"Anderson, with all due respect," Cynthia said, "if we go now, no one will make it to the Conduit, and any chance of activating the Crucible and defeating the reapers will be lost."

"It's risky," Anderson replied, "but we can't let this chance to go to the Citadel slip us by."

"If we go, we're dead."

"I thought you weren't afraid to die again, Cynthia."

"Sir, I don't want to die again because we attacked when we shouldn't have." Cynthia said, as a green portal opened a few dozen feet closer to the Conduit than they were. Out of it flew a massive red and blue machine with a silver jetpack on its back. The portal vanished behind it, and, the thing was looking around it when it saw Cynthia and the others. It flew towards them and landed near a broken mako all-terrain tank. The machine put down a human, and said in a deep, growling voice, "Stay here with your fellow organics. I'm going to figure out what's going on here."

"No need. I know what's going on." the kid said.

"What do you mean, Jack?"

-=0=-

"I know what's going on. The Decepticons must have had a ground bridge of their own open nearby, and it caused us to be sent into an alternate dimension." Jack said.

"Are you certain?" Optimus asked.

"Yeah. Hey, Shepard, Anderson, Garrus! You guys need someone to distract Harbinger?"

-=0=-

"What do you mean, do we need a distraction, kid?" Cynthia asked. "Who the hell are you?"

"The name's Jack Darby, and my big metal friend here is Optimus Prime, the ideal bot for distracting Harbinger so he doesn't decimate Hammer."

"How do you know the details of this place, Jack?" Optimus asked.

"I'll tell you when we get back home, Prime. But first, you see that big squid-ship?"

"Yes."

"You need to take that thing down, it's part of a fleet that's trying to mess up humanity."

"How do you know this? If it really is an alterate dimension, then how do you know anything about it."

"Later, Optimus."

"Kid, you think this is an alternate dimension from yours?" Cynthia asked.

"I know it is, Cynthia."

"What did you just call me, kid?" Cynthia asked, thinking _'Why the hell would this kid call me by my first name? If he was from an alternate dimension he wouldn't know my first name, but if he was from around here he should know I don't let people use my first name.'_

"Cynthia. I know you don't like it when people call you that, but hey before you try to hurt me, might I point out that I have a two story robot who is a good friend of mine who protects his friends. So, if you try to pull the trigger, you'll find that Miranda's efforts in Project Lazarus were wasted because you pissed him off. Other than that, you might want to consider the fact that I can get you on the Citadel so you can destroy the mass relay network."

"Mass relay?" Optimus asked.

"How does your friend not know about the relays, kid? Surely he uses them when he travels the galaxy, right? And what did you mean by letting us destroy the mass relays?"

"We come from an alternate dimension where the relays and reapers don't exist. Instead we've got other problems. Namely evil robots that are of comparable size to Optimus here. Now, I can help you link up the Crucible to the Citadel so that you can be given an exposition dump by the Catalyst about synthetic/organic tension, or we can sit here talking all day and all humanity will end up like the protheans."

"How would the Catalyst give me an 'exposition dump'? It's just the Citadel."

"The Catalyst is not the Citadel, it's merely on the Citadel. It's an AI created by the Leviathan species to find a solution to the supposed tension between synthetic and organic life. It'll take the form of the kid you couldn't save when the reapers first arrived on earth, and will tell you that the Crucible has three drastically different functions, all of which are incredibly powerful but drastically different. And all of them will require you to sacrifice your life to activate. But, I've got another option for you. I think that with Prime's help that you'll be able to beat the reapers and save the earth without dying."

"How do you know anything about the Crucible or the Catalyst, or that its functions would require that I would have to sacrifice my life to activate it?"

"Trust me, you don't want to know."

"Why wouldn't we want to?" Miranda asked.

"It's complicated, and I'm not sure how it works."

"So, what makes you so certain about these details of yours?" Garrus asked.

"I have my reasons." he said.

"What are they?" Cynthia asked.

"Whatever the details are is unimportant, we need to act quickly. That machine appears ready to attack." Optimus said.

Cynthia looked at Optimus, and said, "Big guy, go after the reaper behind the Conduit. Maybe you'll be able to provide sufficient distraction for Hammer to get on the Citadel."

"Understood." Prime replied, his faceplate coming out and his jetpack reactivating as he reached behind his back and drew a massive sword, the Star Saber which had enough power to cause significant damage to a dreadnaught with a single strike, and flew towards Harbinger.

Jack looked at them, took in a deep breath, and said, "You've got to move. We don't know how much time you'll have before Harbinger quits focusing on Prime. So get running. He'll meet you on the Citadel."

"Got it, thanks kid." Cynthia replied.

"Just doing what I can to help. The reapers need to be stopped." he replied. "How you doing, Tali?"

"I'm fine, just confused by this inter-dimensional travel stuff."

"At least there're no giant zombie robots coming after us this time!" Jack said.

-=0=-

Miko, a Japanese foreign exchange student with black hair put into two ponytails that had pink highlights, said, "What! Jack got to go to another dimension again but I didn't! That is so lame."

Bulkhead, a massive, rotund autobot said, "Miko, don't you remember what happened last time? Being chased by Skyquake's corpse?"

"But that's not how things are this time! He just got to go to another dimension with Prime to keep him safe! This is so unfair."

Ratchet said, "Miko, that's not what's important! That important thing is that I can't get a ground bridge to open which will let Optimus and Jack get back to _our _dimension. Currently there's something causing interference on their side."

"Yeah," Raf, a small boy with brown hair that went a good foot high, "if Optimus is stuck in another universe, we're in trouble, and they could both be in a lot of danger."

"Oh come on, Raf, you know that anything any dimension could throw at Optimus he'd be able to handle with ease." Miko said.

"Not necessarily. What if its got a bunch of full-sized Unicron's?" Bulkhead asked.

"What are you talking about, Autobot?" Ultra Magnus, a tall blue Autobot who was Optimus Prime's second in command, asked.

"Sir, it appears that Optimus and Jack have been transported to another dimension due to two ground bridges being activated in close proximity." Ratchet replied.

"Optimus Prime is currently in an alternate dimension? And a native is with him?"

"Yeah, Jack and his mom went to Mount Rushmore for a vacation since things were so quiet here. And Prime was investigating Decepticon activity there."

"I see. Doctor, have you managed to find a way to bring Optimus and Jack back to our dimension?"

"Not yet, there is interference on their end."

"Do what you can, Doctor."

"I will, sir. But, I need to be allowed to focus, and all of this activity nearby is not beneficial. Perhaps you could take the others somewhere they will not be causing trouble?"

"Why you so grumpy, Doc? Prime's a big bot, he can take care of himself." Wheeljack said.

-=0=-

Optimus approached Harbinger, and the reaper began trying to hack into his systems. Optimus raised the Star Saber over his head, the synthetic energon flowing through his robotic veins causing the energy gathering around the blade to turn green. He swung the weapon down and the energy flew from it in a crescent moon shape. It flew towards Harbinger and when it connected with the reaper's kinetic barriers the air around it fluctuated, then the energy flew through and connected with the ancient machine. It staggered backwards and Optimus reached behind his back and pulled out the energy minigun that had been created when he was rebuilt by the Forge. As it charged up, he saw the human forces charging.

-=0=-

"Move out!" Cynthia shouted, pulling out her Vindicator rifle and began sprinting down the path, watching Prime attack Harbinger. Then, dozens of Maruaders, Brutes, and Banshees poured out from behind the arms of the Conduit. She fired, and said, "Garrus, snipe the front banshee! Tali use cryo blast on it! Miranda, warp its barriers!"

"Understood!" the three shouted, and did as they were told.

Anderson, meanwhile, hit his communicator and said, "All air support near the Conduit open fire on the reaper troops between us and the Conduit!"

-=0=-

Prime slammed into the Reaper, managing to break into its interior, where he saw dozens of the small, mutated organics that the humans had called Cannibals. They opened fire on him, and the force of their weapons caused him to stagger back. Then, he fired on them with his minigun while he put away the Star Saber.

Then, he received an incoming call from Jack. "What is it Jack?" he inquired, finishing the troops.

"You can't distract Harbinger from inside it. Hammer's starting to get pounded to bits, so you've got to go back out."

"Understood." the Autobot replied, flying back out the hole he had entered through. He turned to the reaper and said, "Harbinger, this ends here."

The reaper replied, "You are nothing. Your destruction is imminent for you have gained the attention of those infinitely your greater."

"We'll see about that." Prime replied, as his right arm transformed into a cannon. He fired it on the reaper as he had to dodge two crimson shots from the reaper's weapons.

"You are an anomaly." the reaper said, "I cannot break your mind to my will, but you are clearly a machine."

"You do not understand the spark at the core of all Cybertronians. While I may be mechanical, your attempts to hack me will always end in failure because I have something you lack. An essence of my own, not merely programming."

"You know so little, machine. And that shall be your undoing." Harbinger replied.

Optimus glared at Harbinger, and said, "I do not need to understand you to destroy you."

-=0=-

Cynthia rolled away from the swing of a brute's claw, and stabbed its head with her omni-blade before turning and running further towards the Conduit, flanked by the rest of Hammer. Then, a beam from Harbinger hit a few feet in front of her, and she looked up to see that Optimus had flown inside it. _'Shit! There goes our cover. Oh well, we've got to keep moving.'_ Then, just as she began to run down, she saw Prime burst out from the machine and open fire on it.

-=0=-

Ratchet said, "I think I have pinpointed the source of the interference."

"How were you able to do that?" Bulkhead asked.

"There was a spike in energon from the Star Saber and that managed to temporarily weaken the interference to the point where I was able to briefly scan the region. The source of the interference was a large, three pronged structure that has a massive beam of energy moving up from the ground in what appears to be an elevator fashion. If Prime can disable that we will be able to get him out of there."

"Is there any way to open a bridge to where they are that would be one way, so that we could enter?" Ultra Magnus said.

"No, I can't get a stable connection."

"What about the synth-en? Could it be somehow used to weaken the interference enough to get us through?" Smokescreen, a small, blue bot asked.

"That is not how things work! To weaken the interference someone would have to use a large amount of energon on the same side as the interference. The energon has to be where it would hit the cause, not the symptoms." Ratchet said.

"What about in that same alternate dimension, but further from the source of the interference? Then would we be able to send someone through?" Raf asked.

"Intentional inter-dimensional travel is difficult enough when using co-ordinates that we know lead to another dimension. Guessing where to send someone would be thousands of times more difficult. We have to wait for Optimus to disable the cause of the interference and then send a bridge to the location where they had been."

Bumblebee beeped a few times, in his form of communication ever since his voice box had been severely damaged by Megatron.

"Bee's right." Bulkhead said, "We've got to find some way to help Prime and Jack get back."

Then, Arcee who had been sitting quietly in the corner, said, "I think that we know someone who could help us figure it out."

"Arcee, you can't be serious! He's dangerous and severely unstable! If we went to him for help, we don't know what would happen!"

"It's the only option if we want to get Optimus and Jack back here safely for sure."

"No, we'll find another way."

"Who's she talking about?" Raf asked.

"Yeah, who?" Miko asked.

"Grimlock." Ultra Magnus said. "And I agree with Ratchet, we do not need another loose cannon."

"Who's Grimlock? What's he turn into?" Miko asked.

Bulkhead said, "He's the leader of the dinobots. Or at least he was until the Battle of Quintessa."

"What happened at the Battle of Quintessa?" Raf asked.

"They fought Thunderwing." Arcee said.

"Who's Thunderwing?"

"Thunderwing was a 'con more powerful than Optimus and Megatron working together. He was the herald of Unicron, before the dinobots finished him. And even then it took all five of 'em working together." Wheeljack said.

Raf then asked, "I remember Bee saying Dinobots weren't very smart. So, how would one of them help with something like this?"

"Grimlock's a... what do you humans call it? Savant? He is a genius when it comes to ground bridge technology." Ultra Magnus said.

"So, what are we waiting for? Let's go get him so we can get those two back from who knows where!" Miko said.

"It is not that simple." Ratchet said. "He's unstable and only Optimus and Prowl could get his help. Anyone else he might attack."

"We can keep him in line." Arcee said, "If he knows that it's to help Prime he'll stay in line."

"We do not know that, Arcee."

"With all due respect, sir," she said, "we don't have any other options to get Prime and Jack back before he finds out what's causing the interference. If we don't go to him for help that would be like abandoning him in a potentially dangerous alternate dimension. And, what if Megatron finds out that we've lost Prime and can't get him back? Decepticon attacks on the humans will start happening since there won't be someone to beat Megatron. Since, Commander, as we saw during the Darkmount incident you aren't good enough to beat him."

"You have a point, Arcee. Very well, we shall go and recover Grimlock from his location so that he can help us get Prime and Jack back."

"Sir, you can't be serious!"

"We need Optimus asap. This is the fastest way to get him back. Open the ground bridge to where Grimlock is."

"Yes sir." the doctor replied.

-=0=-

Cynthia slammed into the banshee that had grabbed Garrus, knocking her into the ground. Then, she flipped out her omni-blade and stabbed the creature three times, quickly killing it. Garrus said, "Thanks for the assist."

"No problem, just be more careful next time. We need to get to the Conduit, since we don't know how long it is that the kid's robot friend can keep Harbinger distracted."

"Got it." he replied, as she began to sprint towards the Conduit.

Just as she was about to reach it, a marauder, a turian who had been modified by the reapers, stepped out from behind one of the Conduit's arms and opened fire on her. The rounds bounced off of her shields and then the creature's head exploded and Garrus shouted, "Boom, headshot!"

She grinned, and began moving towards the Conduit again, as Harbinger collapsed, sending shockwaves through the ground, knocking her down.

-=0=-

Optimus flew up to evade one of Harbinger's attacks, and turned to open fire on a pair of Oculi, flying reaper units shaped like spheres with pieces of metal coming out of the sides. Once they were gone, he put away the minigun and drew the Star Saber before flying towards the reaper's legs. As he approached he dodged the reaper's blasts, and then he threw the Star Saber into one of them. As it spun through the reaper's leg, Optimus flew down and caught the Star Saber on the other side, and firing three rounds from his arm-cannon.

They connected with the ship and severed the leg, and then he said, "This ends now."

The reaper screamed in pain as it collapsed to the ground. Then it said, "Why do you throw away your life away so recklessly?" as it fired on Prime.

"That's a question you should ask yourself, Harbinger." he replied, and flew towards it again.

-=0=-

Ultra Magnus, Arcee, Bulkhead, and Wheeljack stepped out of the ground bridge into a massive jungle. Ultra Magnus said, "Be prepared to engage Grimlock in combat. We cannot be certain that he will be willing to help us."

"Understood." Bulkhead said, as his right hand transformed into a wrecking ball and his left into a plasma cannon. Wheeljack drew his twin swords, and Arcee's arms transformed into plasma cannons.

"Spread out, we need to find him quickly and return to base."

"Yes, sir." Arcee said, running in one direction, while Wheeljack walked off in another.

Before going, Bulkhead asked, "What if Grimlock is aggressive and we cannot get him to see reason?"

"Then we will retreat to base and find a way to get Prime back without his aid." Magnus replied.

"Understood." he replied.

-=0=-

Cynthia stepped into the Conduit, and a few moments of rapid travel through the beam of energy, found herself on the Citadel. She moved quickly, and soon Anderson, Garrus, Tali, and Miranda joined her. "We need to move quickly." Anderson said, but just as they were about to go, Jack arrived on the Citadel with a pistol in hand.

"Kid, what the hell are you doing on the Citadel? And where'd you get the gun?"

"From some soldier who had been grazed by Harbinger." Jack replied, as his cell started to ring. He answered, "Yes?"

Optimus asked, "Where are you?"

"I went through the Conduit."

"What are you thinking, Jack?"

"They could use someone who knows what to expect from here. And, I've got an idea about something that's coming up soon." he said, while he looked around, and started to feel queasy from the smell and sight of the multitude of dead bodies.

Tali said, "You really shouldn't have come here kid."

"You guys need some help with what's coming up. I can give you guys an edge against the enemy that's up ahead."

"How?" Cynthia asked.

"I know some stuff that can help."

"You say that, but what do you know? And how the hell do you know it?" Cynthia demanded.

"You really, really don't want to know."

"Why don't you give me a fucking answer, before I throw your ass off the pathway, kid?"

"Prime wouldn't like that, and you don't want to get on his bad side."

"I just want to know how a civilian on earth can know about the Crucible and the Catalyst, and claims to know everything that's coming up?"

"I'd rather not tell you."

Cynthia slammed into the wall and put her Paladin pistol to his skull, and growled, "Tell me how you know what you know, or I swear to any and every god that's actually out there that I will pull the trigger."

"Easy, Cynthia. You don't want to pull the trigger. You don't hurt minors, not since you lost your six year old sister Sarah and your eight year old sister Jessica on Mindoir. On that day you swore to yourself that you'd protect every single minor you could, no matter the cost."

"How do you know that?" she asked, her eyes starting to glow red.

"You don't want to know."

"Tell me, or I will pull the trigger."

"Cynthia, relax." Miranda said.

"This fucking kid needs to talk."

"Fine, I'll talk, Cynthia. The truth is you are only one Commander Shepard out of billions. Male and Female, with various backgrounds and personalities, but each held within the same constraints. Each a paragon, a renegade, or something in between. Each who once held a decent amount of individuality and personality, but in the end, starting when Vega came to talk to you the day the reapers arrived on earth that individuality was largely destroyed. Thane's death at the hands of Kai Leng, Mordin's death curing the genophage, arbitrary as it was,"

"You're calling his sacrifice for the future of the krogan race arbitrary?" Cynthia interrupted.

"Let me finish what I'm saying, Cynthia, or I might have to tell Miranda about why you left Ashley to die."

"Fine." she replied.

"The near-death of Miranda at Sanctuary, all were pre-determined by a group of writers at a company named Bioware, in my dimension anyways. In my dimension, this universe is from a trilogy of video games named Mass Effect. This is the end of Mass Effect 3, which created the largest fan outcry in the history of video games, because it makes no sense."

"You're saying we're all characters in a video game?"

"Not here, things are different. For starters, Miranda's here with you, Cynthia. Harbinger didn't decimate Hammer, thanks to Optimus. And, hopefully TIM won't be able to control people for no good reason."

-=0=-

Optimus flew into orbit, and saw a fleet of reapers. he thought, _'Primus, with that many it would take days to destroy them all.'_

-=0=-

"If you only understood the power I can wield now, Shepard, you would know that we can control the reapers! That I can take control of them."

Jack said, "You can't control them, Harper, because they already control you."

"You're wrong!"

"Their leader said so himself. And, you know nothing of the reapers. And, while the Crucible can enable an individual who is not indoctrinated to take control of the reapers, at the price of their corporeal form."

"You have not spoken to their leader! You have not spoken to any of them!"

"What makes you so sure that I haven't? You haven't been able to keep an eye on every human in the galaxy." Jack asked.

Tali whispered to Jack_, "Maybe you shouldn't be getting on his nerves so much."__  
_

_"I've got this." _he replied, before saying, "And, even if you do want to control the reapers with the Crucible, why don't you let us open the Citadel?"

"Kid's got a point." Cynthia replied.

"Be quiet! I-I need to think."

"No you don't, Illusive Man, you know that what you're doing is wrong, that you're helping the reapers."

"NO I'M NOT!" he shouted.

"Maybe I was wrong, maybe you really are their unwitting puppet." Cynthia said.

"Be silent or I'll shoot Miranda, Shepard." TIM replied.

"I'd advise against it." Jack said, "You really, really, really, don't want to be someone Cynthia sees as a threat to Miranda."

"Jack's right, you don't want to be. How she killed my father was rather... gruesome." Miranda said.

TIM was quiet, then said, "You're right. Thank you for opening my eyes." before pulling the trigger and falling lifeless to the ground.

"Tali, open the Citadel. Anderson, let's take care of this corpse." she said, grabbing one end of TIM.

The Admiral nodded, and they threw him into the pile of corpses. When they returned to the chamber, Jack said, "Shepard, we've got to hurry. The Catalyst will probably want a word with you."

"How do we get to it?"

"Step up to the floor panel right in front of the terminal."

"Alright, but you better not be messing with me."

"I'm not, Cynthia."

A few minutes later, nothing had happened, and she was glaring at him. Then, Jack said, "The Crucible's attached, why isn't it pulling you up."

-=0=-

Admiral Hackett, an old man in charge of the entire Victory Fleet, said, "Shepard, the Crucible isn't firing. We think its a problem on your end."

"We'll look into it." Shepard replied.

Then, he saw Optimus flying to the Citadel, and said, "There's something heading your way, it looks pretty big."

"Is it red and blue, sir?"

"Yes, how'd you know?"

"It's a friendly, sir. It distracted Harbinger so we could get to the Citadel."

"That's quite the impressive ally."

"Yeah, apparently he's quite the badass. This kid who showed up with him said he stopped a planet-sized monster that could have fucked up the entire galaxy."

"Do you actually believe him?"

"Everything else he's said has been accurate, so I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt."

"Alright, find a way to get the Crucible to fire." Hackett said.

"We're working on it, sir."

-=0=-

Jack looked up and said, "Hey, Catalyst, why don't you lift us up to where we can talk to you?"

"I seriously doubt it'll do that." Garrus said.

"It's worth a try." he replied.

-=0=-

Grimlock charged at Ultra Magnus, who said, "Grimlock stop, I'm a friend!"

"Me Grimlock no friend of you, Ultra Magnus."

"Listen to me!" He shouted, dodging the charging dinobot, "Optimus Prime is in danger, and we need your help to save him!"

"Optimus Prime in danger?" Grimlock inquired.

"Yes, and we need your knowledge of space bridge technology to rescue him."

The dinobot was silent for a moment, then said, "Me Grimlock help you save Optimus Prime, but that all."

"That's all we're asking for." Ultra Magnus said.

"Good, because that all you get." the dinobot said.

Magnus nodded, and said, "Arcee, Bulkhead, Wheeljack, head to the extraction point. Grimlock has agreed to help us recover Prime."

"Thank the Allspark." Arcee said over the com-link.

-=0=-

The Catalyst looked down upon the strange young human beneath, telling it to raise him and his companions up so that they could speak. Then, the child said, "I know you're up there, your idiotness."

_'What did that insect call me?_ the Catalyst thought.

-=0=-

"Oh, did I hurt your retard feelings? Why don't you show yourself so we can have a conversation?"

Optimus landed nearby, and asked Jack, "What are you talking to?"

"The Catalyst's a floor up here, and I'm trying to get it to let us up to talk to it."

-=0=-

_'That is a massive robot. And, it defeated Harbinger. Perhaps I can convince it to help us in the harvest.'_ the Catalyst thought, as it lifted up the entire floor beneath so that all could speak it.

"Hello." it said to the organics and the massive machine.

-=0=-

"Is this child the Catalyst?" Optimus asked.

Cynthia looked at with surprise, and then asked, "Why the hell do you look like that kid who was killed when the reapers arrived?"

"It thinks that it would be best to control you to do what it wants you to." Jack said.

"Well, it could have chosen others who would have had a greater effect." she replied.

"It isn't known for being very bright."

"ENOUGH! You are merely extras, I summoned you here so that I could speak to your large friend."

Optimus looked at it with a single metal 'eyebrow' raised, and asked, "Why do you wish to speak to me?"

"Your power is great. With your aid, the harvest would continue with far less damage to the races preserved in the reapers."

"What do you mean by the harvest?"

"They harvest organic races and turn them into reapers. It wants you to help it turn humanity and other races into reapers." Cynthia said, "Who will then lose their individuality and personal freedom."

"Then my choice is clear. Freedom is the right of all sentient beings, and what you are doing defiles that right."

"What the reapers and I do is to save organic life from destruction."

"You say that, but if Cynthia said that she refuses your three options then you will continue the cycle, after you say that her presence has changed things and a new solution must be found. So, we have no reason to trust you, Catalyst." Jack said.

The Catalyst looked shocked, and said, "There are only four options, Synthesis, Control, Destroy, or the continuation of the harvest. Synthesis would be optimal."

"Synthesis is an abomination." Jack said, "Anyone who would be willing to make that decision is a monster, just like you and your reapers. Synthesis denies the entire galaxy the freedom of choice. Did you ever consider not everyone would want their DNA modified?"

"How do you know the details of synthesis."

Jack didn't respond, but Prime after a moment, said, "All of your options are abominable."

"What makes you think you know better?"

"Your options are genocide, slavery, forced genetic modification, or losing their current form, which most of them wouldn't want."

"It is the only way?"

"No it is not." Prime replied, "This cycle is different. The geth and their quarian creators are living together in peace on their homeworld of Rannoch, and before Sovereign showed up the geth simply wished to be left in peace. The synthetic/organic conflict you speak of is not a thing in this timeline, and if it became a problem later, they could simply fire the Crucible's destroy function to handle the threat. If you called off your reapers and left the Crucible functioning."

"No! A solution must be reached now!"

"That was a solution." Optimus replied.

"It is not satisfactory!"

"Why not?" Cynthia asked.

"It will not work!"

"Why?" Miranda asked, "Optimus's solution seems logical to me."

"The problem is not one you can comprehend! If the synthetics went rogue they would disable the Crucible first!"

"So set up a defense grid that would protect the Crucible from the synthetics so that if they do go rogue, they will be unable to destroy the Crucible before it could be fired."

"That will not work!"

"Why?"

"BECAUSE I SAID SO!" The Catalyst shouted.

"You're acting like an impotent child who isn't getting its way. This solution works for the current problem."

"No it doesn't! What of the reapers? If I called them off your races would destroy them all! What of our fate?"

"If you call off the reapers and agree to end the cycle, I'll have the Victory Fleet not attack them as they retreat into dark space. Never to be seen again." Cynthia said.

"No! Your plan is madness!"

"No, your plans are." Prime replied, "And they are monstrous. Call off the reapers, or I will end this on my terms."

"What could you do?"

"You would not understand."

"What would I not understand."

"Basic logic." Jack said.

"Nice one, kid." Garrus said, bumping fists with him.

"Thanks."

"I understand logic!"

"Your actions seem to say otherwise." Optimus said.

"Enough! Shepard, make your choice. Will you synthesize organic and synthetic life, destroy all synthetic life, including the geth, or will you seize control of us?"

"None. We'll finish this on our terms."

"So be it. The Cycle continues."

"No, it does not." Optimus said as his chest opened up, revealing the Matrix of Leadership, a fragment of the spark of Primus, the creator deity of all transformers, Autobot and Decepticon, that held the collective wisdom of the Primes and continued, "Either call off the reapers, or I shall use the power of the Matrix to end this."

"What could your artifact do?"

"The power and wisdom of Primus and the Primes shall activate the Crucible and destroy you."

"How?"

"The Matrix of leadership is pure power and wisdom, when it's released it will destroy your idiocy with the wisdom of the Primes." Jack said, "But Optimus, if you release it, won't you revert to Orion Pax like you did when you defeated Unicron?"

"I will not be releasing the full power of the Matrix as I did against Unicron, only a small fragment that will recover after a short amount of time."

-=0=-

Grimlock looked at the interference for a moment, then Miko said "Whoa! You're huge! What kind of dinosaur do you turn into? I bet you're a T-rex!"

"What puny human doing in Autobot headquarters, Ratchet?"

"Miko and several others have proven to be quite helpful during our time here on earth."

"I guess Optimus Prime knows what he doing. You tried transmitting the ground bridge outside of subspace frequencies?"

"How would I do that!" Ratchet asked.

"Like this." Grimlock said as he began typing into the console.

-=0=-

The Catalyst then said, "Do your worst."

Optimus nodded, and then pulled out the Matrix. As he held the two handles, he began to pull them apart. As it began to glow, Optimus said, "Now light our darkest hour." As the Matrix's power spread through the area, the Catalyst began to flicker, then collapsed to the ground and writhed in pain. As it vanished, blue energy began to gather around the tip of the Crucible.

-=0=-

Hackett said, "The Crucible is armed, all fleets fall back."

Joker, the pilot of the Normandy, said over communicator, "Sir, Shepard, Anderson, Miranda, Garrus, and Tali are still on the Citadel. What about them?"

"We'll have to hope those on the Citadel are safe."

"Understood, sir."

-=0=-

The energy gathering at the tip of the Crucible began to spread in a spherical wave at the same time that a beam of it flew into the Charon Relay and from it to the rest of the relay. As the energy connected with the reapers, they began to explode from within. As they did so, Optimus said, "It is done."

"Thanks for the help, Prime." Cynthia said.

"It was not a problem. Sometimes things have to be stopped, no matter the cost."

"Yeah. What are you going to do now?"

"Find a way to return to our own dimension."

"How are you going to do it?"

"We already know what is necessary to return, but something must be creating interference that prevents it from working. We will need to find out what it is."

"It could be the Conduit, we know it created interference for our tech."

"Perhaps. Do you know how to deactivate it?"

"That's something we'll have to figure out. Do you know, Jack?"

"No clue." he replied.

-=0=-

Two hours later. Admiral Hackett stood on a podium that had been hastily put together following the confirmed destruction of all reapers around earth and the rest of the galaxy. He said, "We stand here today victorious. The first group of races to defy the reapers, and win. We have done the impossible, and it has been an honor to serve alongside each and every one of you. Your valor today has ensured that everyone and their descendants will have a future. But this was not a victory by any one race, not a victory by any one cycle. This was a victory by countless cycles of races working together to defeat the reapers. So remember as we move forward and begin to rebuild our homes and lives that though we won, it came at a great price." He stepped down, and then Anderson took his place.

He said, "We did it. When the enemy thought it had won we stood up to them and sent them to the hell they were spawned from! They thought they could attack the galaxy without consequence and we proved them wrong! Now, as we rebuild, when there seems to be no end to it in sight, remember that we've done the impossible already. That after we defeated a force that destroyed countless races before us that we can do anything!"

He stepped down, and Cynthia stepped onto the podium. She looked at them, and said, "We defeated the reapers, but it came at great cost. Never forget who sacrificed their lives. Never forget Professor Mordin Solus who gave his life to cure the genophage. Never forget Thane Krios who gave his life to prevent Cerberus from killing the Council. Never forget Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams who gave her life to prevent Saren from opening the Citadel relay so that the reapers could surprise attack us like every other cycle. But, let's also not forget those who came to our aid in our hour of need. I'm talking about Optimus Prime and Jack Darby who showed up shortly before Hammer went to the Conduit. If it weren't for them, Hammer would have been decimated and the Crucible would not have fired, destroying the reapers."

When she stepped down and the people gathered started shouting in confusion Optimus transformed into his robotic form, and said, "CALM DOWN AND BE QUIET!" when they complied, he said, "You are supposed to be soldiers, so act with the discipline that was drilled into you in basic, and do not panic about any potential threats. Do you not see that you have defeated a force countless times stronger than yourselves? If you can do that united, what makes you think that your society can be broken by any single race now? Your races have been united in the crucible of war with the reapers, and there will be peace. Or I swear by Primus I will return here with an army of Autobots and Decepticons and put you back in line. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir." The amassed crowd said.

Then, someone asked, "What are Autobots and Decepticons?"

"The Autobots are me and my allies, and the Decepticons are our mortal enemies, though of our same species."

The group nodded, and Cynthia whispered, so the crowd couldn't hear, _"Would you really do that?"_

Prime shook his head, and asked, "Have you found a way to deactivate the Conduit?"

"Not yet, but we're looking into it."

"Good. It may not be safe for us to stay here much longer. Who knows what the Decepticons are doing."

"Hopefully nothing too serious." Jack said.

Cynthia looked around, then said, "You two, follow me." pointing at Prime and Jack. When they were in a secluded spot, she said, "I'm gonna propose to Miri, and I know I haven't known you two very long, but I owe you all of our lives, so if you want to and can find a way back here before it happens, you'll be welcome to come to the wedding."

"Wedding?" Optimus asked.

"It's kinda like a life-bond ceremony."

"How do you know about life-bond ceremonies?"

"Arcee asked what a wedding was a while back while mom was watching some sappy movie that had one in it, and she said that it sounded like that."

"I see." Prime replied, "I doubt that we will be able to make it to your ceremony. But, best of luck." he said.

"Got it."

-=0=-

Meanwhile in the Autobots headquarters, Ratchet asked Grimlock, "How long does that take?"

"Requires complicated workaround. Takes time to write. Be patient, Ambulance-bot."

"How much longer?"

"Nearing completion. Me Grimlock best ground bridge engineer in galaxy. Done. Try it out."

"Inputting co-ordinates." Ratchet said. "Activating ground bridge."

The green portal came into existence, but quickly faded away. "How was that supposed to help?"

"Try again. Should not have had interference."

Ratchet did so, and the ground bridge, after seeming a bit unstable for a while, the ground bridge stabilized.

Ultra Magnus said, "I did not think that it would work. Well done Grimlock."

-=0=-

Optimus looked up and saw the ground bridge. He said, "It appears that our way back has opened."

"But, how? The Conduit's still online." Jack said.

"They must have found a way to get past the interference it produced."

"What do you think are the chances that it actually works?" Miranda asked.

"Only one way to find out. Let's roll." Prime said, grabbing Jack and activating his jetpack.

He said, "See ya later, maybe!" he said.

"See you later, kid." Garrus said, waving as Optimus took to the air. As they flew through the portal, the turian asked, "Why do you think they ended up here?"

"Probably a glitch with their teleportation technology caused it to send 'em here." Miranda said.

Cynthia said, "I don't care why. They helped us beat the reapers, and that's what matters."

"Still, it's curious. You think that if it were accidental inter-dimensional travel that it would have been to a different version of their dimension, not one so drastically different." Miranda said.

"Don't worry about it, Miri." She said, wrapping an arm around the brunette's shoulder, and said, "I've got a hunch that Optimus Prime's Matrix thing might have a bit of a mind of its own. And, the kid did say that this was, in their dimension, a video game and that I was a create-a-character in it. And apparently you were completely straight."

Miranda laughed, and said, "That's not exactly accurate." while kissing Cynthia.

"I know."

-=0=-

Prime landed in the warehouse, and the first thing he saw was Grimlock. "Grimlock?"

"Optimus Prime." the dinobot said.

"Why are you here? I thought you wanted to be left alone."

"Me Grimlock here you stuck in alternate dimension so me Grimlock come to help you."

"Thank you, Grimlock."

"Me Grimlock go back now. Me Grimlock's work here is done."

"If you want, you could stay with us and fight the Decepticons." Optimus said.

"Decepticon Thunderwing kill Dinobots, me Grimlock avoid them now."

"I understand."

"Wait, Grimlock!" Ratchet said, "How do we return the ground bridge to working on regular subspace frequencies?"

"Me Grimlock left a link on screen to switch between the two kinds of frequencies."

"Good." the doctor said, switching back and activating the ground bridge.

The dinobot stepped through the portal and Miko asked, "Hey, Optimus! What was the alternate dimension like? Where there more zombie 'cons?"

"There were no Decepticons of any kind." Optimus replied, looking around. "Ratchet, is there any Decepticon activity at the moment?"

"There is no sign of Decepticon activity. Though, we should probably send Jack back to his mother now."

"Jack, what was it like on the other side?" Miko asked.

"I'll tell you guys later." he said, stepping through the reactivated ground bridge.

-=0=-

Three days later.

Jack stepped into the hangar where the Autobots made their headquarters, and Miko said, "You told us you'd tell us what it was like on the other side later. So spill the beans!"

"Well, you might want to sit down. Hey, what's Raf playing?"

"ME3. He's testing a mod he made for it that's supposed to give it a better ending."

"I'm personally fond of the Optimus Prime using the Matrix to destroy the Catalyst and destroy the reapers ending."

"What?"

"Raf, get over here!" he said, and when they were all sitting he began to tell them everything about what happened in the alternate dimension.

Miko laughed, and said, "Wow, you're really crazy, Jack!"

"Hey, Optimus, back me up!" he said.

"What Jack says is accurate." Optimus, who had been standing at a nearby terminal looking through immense amounts of data.

"Wait, really? You went to the ME-verse and met Shepard, Miranda, Garrus, Tali and Anderson?"

"Yeah, it was crazy."

"You get to do all the fun stuff." Miko said.

"It wasn't exactly fun, reapers are even more intimidating in person then they are in the game. Though, I have to admit, it was pretty cool to see Prime take down Harbinger."

-=0=-

Cynthia stepped out of her apartment on the Citadel with Miranda, and said, "Looks like the repairs are getting on to a strong start. How long do you think it'll take?"

"At least five years. The reapers did a lot of damage." Miranda replied.

"That's more optimistic than I expected."

"Well, I try to look on the bright side. And, Ori's gotten a decent position helping with the rebuilding. So I think her being in charge will help get it done quickly and well."

"Good to hear she's doing well." she replied.

"What are we going to do once the rebuilding's over?"

"Settle down in some nice, remote, neighborhood and not have to worry about any more wars or suicide missions."

"That will be a nice change of pace." Miranda said, as they walked to a large, empty park. "Wow." she said looking around.

"Yeah." Cynthia replied reaching into her back pocket. She pulled out a small box and got down on one knee. When Miranda turned around she saw the Commander who then said, "Miranda, I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you merry me?"

Miranda smiled, and said, "Of course." before Cynthia placed the ring on her finger.

-=0=-

**A/N: There, a happy ending for Shepard and Miranda, thanks to Prime. Please leave a review with your thoughts, and if you liked this I've got a couple of other ME fics and a KoTOR fic out too. Hope you enjoyed this. :-)**


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